Celebrating the 2013 European Day of Languages in Ireland

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1 Celebrating the 2013 European Day of Languages in Ireland Comedy Film Clip Competition Once again, there was a great response to this year's Comedy Film Clip Competition and this year there were two winners of the first prize: Primary School Prize went to Killury National School, Co. Kerry Secondary School Prize went to Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, Co. Limerick The winners were chosen on the basis of their creativity, language skills, technical skills, humour and talent. All the winning video clips can be viewed on our Resources page: The winners received gift vouchers from International Books. The European Language Label Awards Ceremony On October 4 at a celebratory ceremony in Marino Institute of Education Professor David Crystal awarded the European Language Label to seven projects for innovative ways of teaching and learning languages. In addition five outstanding language learners were honoured at the event. The ceremony was well attended by representatives from embassies, language teacher associations, universities, institutes of technology, language institutions, the Department of Education and Skills and the winners' colleagues, family and friends. A bilingual booklet and a video clip of each of the project winners were produced for the ceremony which gives an overview of all the winners and contact details for the winning projects, as well as information on the European Day of Languages, all of which are available on our website The video clips are also available on Vimeo. The award highlighted the motivation and determination of these exceptional students, who have tackled the challenges of learning a language and have emerged with significantly improved language skills. Dr Céline Healy, Chair of the Irish National Jury, commented that the winning projects illustrate the importance of innovative language-learning initiatives during times of economic challenge. Dr. Healy also noted, These award-winning projects provide a potential source of inspiration and motivation for others teaching and learning languages. In his keynote address, Professor David Crystal highlighted the benefits of multilingualism. These include enhanced cognitive abilities and social skills at a personal level and numerous political and economic benefits at a societal level. He added, We need awards like the European Language Label. But we also need to work towards eradicating myths and inculcating realities. We still need to work towards a 'House of Languages' in every country, where language and languages, language teaching and language learning, are proudly celebrated.

2 The seven winning projects were: Aistear, is a resource website for all writers of the Irish language and specifically for advanced users involved in translation or editing work. An Seomra Ranga Ilteangach, Griffeen Valley Educate Together NS, Co. Dublin a multilingual and multicultural classroom where Spanish, German, Catalan have been taught to Junior Infants through the medium of Irish

3 Linguaswap a language swapping service and secure forum developed by four teachers in Colaiste Bhride, Carnew for second level students Medisigns developed by Interesource Group, Dublin focuses on providing language and communication skills to Deaf people, interpreters and those in the medical profession.

4 Diploma in Italian Online a two year blended learning programme in Italian leading to a Diploma from NUIG, Galway Refugee Access Programme an intensive transition programme aimed at equipping newly-arrived separated children and refugees with the skills necessary to engage with mainstream curriculum and Irish society run by City of Dublin Education and Training Board, Separated Children s Service.

5 Fáilte Isteach a project run by Third Age, Co. Meath where older people volunteer their time to teach conversational English to migrants who have come to Ireland greatly facilitating their integration, confidence and well-being through this welcoming service. The Language Learners of the Year 2013 were: Abdul Jabbar Khan, Refugee Access Programme Abdul joined the programme in September 2012 as a newly-arrived unaccompanied minor from Pakistan. He had not had any prior education in his country of origin and was therefore not literate in his first language, Pashto. He now speaks English fluently.

6 Artjom Kohhantsuk, Maynooth Post Primary School Artjom arrived in Ireland in summer 2009 from Estonia and enrolled as a first-year student at Maynooth Post Primary School. He learned German through the medium of English as a foreign language. He also attends Russian classes on a Saturday morning with a view to taking Russian as a Leaving Certificate subject. Brajan Mazurkiewicz, CBS Secondary School, Roscommon For Brajan, language learning is a hobby. Brajan studies Spanish, English and Irish within the school, but works on other languages in his spare time (including German, Portuguese, French, Russian, Japanese, Danish and Dutch). Christopher McMahon, Castleknock Community College

7 Christopher is interested in Irish, Spanish, French (self-taught) and Latin (self-taught) and is currently learning Italian and Ancient Greek. Elif Sude Alagoz, St. Brigid s Primary School, Dublin 4. Elif arrived in Ireland from Turkey and started 4th class in September 2011, having never studied English before. She has now progressed from this basic level to accessing the 5th Class curriculum at a high level. She is also learning French at school.

8 Celebrations around Ireland Leading up to the 26 th of September, Léargas received numerous requests for materials such as posters, stickers and pens to help students to take an interest in languages. Poster designed by students of Salesian College, Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick European Day of Languages was a big hit this year in Salesian College, Copsewood, Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick. The central area of the school was decorated with European flags and displays throughout the week. A lunchtime show entertained the school community with Irish dancing and traditional music displays. 'Je ne regrette rien' was sung by students of French, a Polish presentation, poetry& song recital were given, a singsong led by the Principal among others. First years treated the audience to a song with actions they had learned in Spanish class called 'Buenos Dias' which had the whole school joining in, as did the Macarena performed by the 3rd year students of Spanish. Two videos were made for the comedy clip competition run by Leargas one by two Second Year students focused on the actual celebrations of the day and the other a skit by 5 th years.

9 Newpark Comprehensive School had lots planned for the day. They held a Crêpes sale, a Poster competition and a Non-Uniform Day with prizes given to the best French outfits. In addition the Newpark European Section organised a "European Goûter". The event took place in the cooking class (Home Economics through French); the aim was for the students to bring desserts from different countries and learn about different cultures. They had to describe them and express their opinion in French. The pictures taken during the event will be used in a Powerpoint presentation and will be presented to other classes. In Gorey Community School a Football Game was organized with Senior German students representing Bayern Munich versus Junior German students representing Borssia Dortmund. It was refereed by a German teacher and supported by all students to make them aware of European Languages Day. The children of 5th class in Gael Scoil Chionn tsaile did a fun rap to celebrate European languages and placed it on YouTube. St. Augustine's N.S. Clontuskert held a day of celebration through German and learned fun songs, held quizzes and made movies. Children from two sixth classes of Castleknock Educate Together National School shared their knowledge about the languages of the EU and interesting facts about different languages. They taught their classmates some words in the languages they speak as well as running a language quiz. The EDL website was promoted to encourage children to find out more about languages after the workshop and to encourage them to start learning a new language too.

10 Students of the Salesian College, Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick celebrating European Day of Languages And of course lots of schools, playschools, libraries, universities and companies celebrated the European Day of Languages with posters and stickers.